My gut reaction to Secretary Gates' comments in this interview isn't good. Am I way off the mark in wondering why he didn't just say "we're not prepared to make a statement about possible actions?" Doesn't it seem a bit odd to essentially just admit "we're not going to do anything when N Korea breaks international law by firing this missile?" Maybe I'm overreacting; any thoughts?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/29/gates-prepared-respond-north-korea-missile-launch/

Gates: U.S. Not Prepared to Respond to North Korea Missile Launch
The defense secretary told "FOX News Sunday" that the United States can do nothing to stop North Korea from thumbing its nose at the international community by test-firing a long-range missile.

By Bill Sammon

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The United States can do nothing to stop North Korea from breaking international law in the next 10 days by firing a missile that is unlikely to be shot down by the U.S. or its allies, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.

Appearing on "FOX News Sunday," Gates said North Korea "probably will" fire the missile, prompting host Chris Wallace to ask: "And there's nothing we can do about it?"

"No," Gates answered, adding, "I would say we're not prepared to do anything about it."

Last week, Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, said the U.S. is "fully prepared" to shoot down the missile. But Gates said such a response is unlikely.

"I think if we had an aberrant missile, one that was headed for Hawaii, that looked like it was headed for Hawaii or something like that, we might consider it," Gates said. "But I don't think we have any plans to do anything like that at this point."

North Korea has moved a missile onto a launch pad and says it will be fired by April 8. Pyonyang insists the missile is designed for carrying a communications satellite, not a nuclear warhead that the secretive nation appears bent on developing.

Gates said while he doesn't think North Korea has the capability yet to shoot off a long-range nuclear-tipped missile, "I don't know anyone at a senior level in the American government who does not believe this technology is intended as a mask for the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile."

Gates conceded that North Korea will likely get away with thumbing its nose at the international community by test-firing the missile. He also said that six-party talks aimed at curbing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions have been largely fruitless.

"It's very troubling," Gates said. "The reality is that the six-party talks really have not made any headway anytime recently."

Gates also lamented that the missile launch planned by dictator Kim Jong-Il comes just two months after President Obama took office.

"If this is Kim Jong-Il's welcoming present to a new president, launching a missile like this and threatening to have a nuclear test, I think it says a lot about the imperviousness of this regime in North Korea to any kind of diplomatic overtures," he said.

Gates also said Japan is unlikely to shoot down a North Korean missile unless it drops debris on the island nation.

The Obama administration has signaled it wants to scale back the deployment of a missile defense system that was initiated by former President George W. Bush. The White House is also talking about dropping plans for missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Gates lamented the futility of diplomatic efforts toward North Korea and Iran, another nation with nuclear ambitions. Despite the Obama administration's talk of ramping up diplomatic overtures toward Tehran, Gates was pessimistic about that strategy.

"Frankly, from my perspective, the opportunity for success is probably more in economic sanctions in both places than it is in diplomacy," Gates said. "What gets them to the table is economic sanctions."

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Never tip your hand in a poker game. This may be what Gates is really thinking.

Heard today that the Pentagon thinks it really is a communication sat, and the biggest danger is falling rocket stages, which could be a big danger to Japan or shipping.

For sure when everybody at the table is armed to the teeth.

Faux news says they are shootin missles....

Everyone else thinks they are trying to send up a communications satelite...

What's the difference?

Ah, you beat me to it, Bot.

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Then why would he "tip his hand" by saying, essentially, "We won't do anything?" That's the part I don't get. Why not keep them guessing?

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Is the technology that advanced that North Korea is now just getting into the game?

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North Korea has no business developing these things in the first place. A nation with a GDP of under 30 billion dollars (Less than the amount of money generated by the Port of Elizabeth in NJ) should not be spending 100s of millions on building long range rockets. They cannot even feed their people or give them a decent standard of living.

Of course since most of the nation's money goes to the military and having a missile that can hit Hawaii or Taiwan or the Philippines gives the 'Dear Leader' something he can use to extort more money from those countries...
I absolutely think this is a test of a missile designed for nuclear warheads. North Korea has no need for a "communications satellite" the whole country is what, the size of Mississippi?

Since the DPRK has withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty you can bet that this launch vehicle and the warhead that it is designed to carry will be on the open market in a couple years.

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3 stage technology givs the owner unrestricted access to space, which allows ballistic targeting anywhere on the planet. Not a problem in nations with rational governments.

The danger from NK are two-fold. First, they are unstable and thus, unpredictable. Second, they could sell the technology to a country that has developed nuclear weapons but no 3-stage rocket technology.

It's our world, they're just living in it, eh?


N. Korea is not unpredictable. They are xenophobes. And I think it is not much of a guess that they'll sell what they have.

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Maybe he knows something we don't, or could be bluffing. Maybe he knows that rocket is going to fail miserably, maybe there IS a plan to take it out. Or, maybe he just doesn't want to mess with that particular bee's nest right now.
Guess we'll find out in about 8 days.

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https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

"The Obama administration has signaled it wants to scale back the deployment of a missile defense system that was initiated by former President George W. Bush. The White House is also talking about dropping plans for missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic."


Idiots.................

Pointing missiles at the Russians, your right, it's an idiot move.

I don't care, we can just nuke them to a glass floored self lighting parking lot if they are ever dumb enough to fire the real thing.

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